How can you protect data security when collaborating with R&D partners?

Collaboration with external research and development (R&D) partners is crucial for a whole range of organisations. These days, breakthrough R&D discoveries tend not to come from the work of an individual or small team, but from the pooling of data and knowledge between teams. Often, projects involve input from other labs, sometimes labs based elsewhere around the country or overseas. This pooling of knowledge and resources can dramatically speed up R&D projects and lead to better results. However, it also presents challenges and one of these is protecting data security. Here, we look at how information can be securely managed even in the face of these logistical difficulties.

The cloud

Rather than getting IT departments to create a hole in firewalls to facilitate collaboration, which can clearly pose a risk to information security, a far safer and more convenient option is to create an extension to corporate infrastructure in the form of a cloud-based solution. As data management experts IDBS point out, cloud systems enable organisations to extend real-time, secure workspaces for data capture and sharing, assigning tasks and coordinating projects.

These solutions enable companies to isolate their internal data while still being able to collect and feed data from external partners back into their corporate systems. Collaborating parties can also set a timeframe during which they wish to share information and, once this period comes to an end, intellectual property is retained and sent to the relevant internal data management systems.

Choosing the right solution for you

Of course, if you want to harness the power of the cloud to make R&D collaboration easier, you’ll need to ensure you choose a solution that meets your organisation’s requirements. On a broad level, it’s important to ensure that the system is user-friendly and requires minimal training to utilise, is scalable and cost-effective.

It’s vital that you spend some time researching your options and make sure that the solution you opt for matches all of your practical needs. The fact is, because effective, efficient and secure information sharing plays such a fundamental role in the R&D process, these systems have the power to make or break entire projects. You should be able to get all the information you need to make an informed decision online.

There’s no denying the fact that protecting data security when working with R&D partners can pose a challenge, but using suitable cloud solutions can make it much easier to achieve this goal.